Dress Rehearsal

We are the mighty,
shaking our shields at the sky
to honor and defy
the gods who we pretend live there
to make meaning.
Full of life and light and
satisfaction,
we dine on the gods,
glut on the sweetness of their flesh
and grow fat on them.

We are the mighty,
see the shape of us,
formed by the hard press of
myth and lore
against the softness of our clay.
We live in battles retold
there on the amphora,
black against red.
Absence against the presence
of our blood glittering brightly,
more preciou… Continue

The sea sways me
mechanical devotion teasing infinity
in the up + down + push + pull
of it.
The landscape bleached yellow to white
by the sun,
a bone in the desert bled
dry of the things that define and
bind me to it.
Open
The sea fades into the sky.
Open
It unfolds a mystery
that I gather in my hands,
nuzzle against.
Splitting, piercing sound
and waves shatter.
Mystery. I shroud myself.
Clothed.
Closed.

Her heart was a door,
painted lush with promise
and adorned with tiny votives
piercing its cracked surface.
It opened into darkness deep—
both a mystery and a warning.
It screamed bodies and gore
but it was empty,
abandoned.

Pieces of her lay scattered reckless
in the rooms that wore roles
like costumes, trick or
entreating with the finery
of the tales they wove.

Here, a chipped shell sitting on plaster
carved to look like white
water and the smell of salt, sand
the hot bake of the sun
calling… Continue

She stared into the sky,
black and freckled
with the memory of light.
I am a coward she confessed
to the moon, waited for
something to happen
but it didn't.
It didn't laugh,
shed tears, or turn away.
There was no judgement,
no penance.
It was silent,
and her words were left
hanging
in the darkness where they ripened
and dangled before her, whispering
coward
as the wind moved through them.
Her hand moved, plucked one… Continue

Come, she said
invitation and command, she pointed
to her lips, parted and ready.
Needing.

Kiss me,
she whispered it close to his mouth
where his breath
fed each word.

Tongue taste, lick and slide,
timid
little
nibbles
tied up in knots,
she was

Take.